Basic Course Information
JOUR-1125 (Mass Communication Practicum)
1 credit hour per semester
(may build up to a total of 3 hours by repeating the class)
This course provides practical experience in
reporting, writing, editing, and producing newspapers, magazines, and public
relations materials. The student may
work on campus with the newspaper, literary magazine, or College Relations
office.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor (K. Kemper)
Textbook: SMP staff manual
Course Outcomes for JOUR 1125:
Students will develop basic journalism skills
by working with the student newspaper, the college’s literary magazine,
or the College Relations Office.
Students will develop an awareness of both
the content and production sides of journalistic endeavors.
GHC Student
Learning Outcome for JOUR 1125:
Critical Thinking
(6) Students will be able to organize data.
Attendance
The class is offered at a set time and also on an arranged basis. Students
in the scheduled class must attend every class meeting. Unavoidable absences
may be excused by the instructor, who should be notified in person, by a
telephone call, or by written communication, preferable before the scheduled
class time. Students in the arranged sections will maintain weekly contact with
the instructor on an individual basis. Students who have an excused absence
from a scheduled class meeting may be required to complete exercises done in
class or put in extra time working on the newspaper equivalent to a scheduled
class meeting. Requests for makeup work due to an extended absence must be
approved by the division chair. (In case of an absence by the instructor,
generally someone else will conduct the class meeting.)
Withdrawal Deadline
Withdrawal deadlines vary semester to
semester. Contact the instructor for details
Student Responsibilities
1. Each student will contribute to both the content and production of each
issue of the newspaper.
Content assignments must be completed on time. Any problems or delays in content assignments must be reported to the
instructor immediately so a deadline adjustment can be made if possible.
However, deadline extensions will be given only in the case of truly
serious and unavoidable difficulties. Such a problem should also be reported to the editors (and to
the advertising manager or chief photographer if appropriate). Students should not
change assignments or swap assignments with another staff member unless an
editor (or the advertising manager or chief photographer) approves. JOUR 1125 assignments are considered turn in
at the time the instructor receives the final copy.
There will be some flexibility in terms of production assignments and
production work times, but production work is required for each issue. This
will take approximately one hour per issue.
2. Students should check their college email
accounts frequently to get current assignments and to see if more information
is needed on a story that has been turned in. Completed written assignments should be copied
to kkemper@highlands.edu when they
are emailed to the team leader and 6mpost@highlands.edu
.
3. Students should read each issue of the
newspaper and be ready to discuss good and bad points and make suggestions for
improvements at critique sessions.
4. Students will prepare a clipping notebook
in which they will put copies of their contribution to each issue--news
stories, editorials, features, photos, cartoons, ad layouts, etc. These should
be mounted on sheets of paper labeled with the date of the issue and the number
of the page the item is from. This notebook will be turned in at the end of the
semester for a final critique by the instructor. These clippings will also be
useful evidence of past experience if students later apply for a job requiring
skill in writing, photography, etc.
***The instructor reserves the right to alter
the dates, material covered, or format of any exam after notifying the students
in advance.
Grading
The course grade will be based on the adequate
completion of the Student Responsibilities according to the point system
outlined on the Point Distribution Sheet. The grading scale will be as follows:
A, 100-90; B, 89-80; C, 79-70; D, 69-60; F,
59-0.
General
Notes
If you have
complaints about an assignment you are given, discuss the problem with the
editors
and then with the
instructor, if necessary. Also, if you would like to get experience in another
area of staff work, the
editors or instructor can usually arrange this.
Feel free to
contact the instructor at any time for help in carrying out your assignments. Phone –
706-368-7626
or 1-800-332-2406; Email–kkemper@highlands.edu;
office F-136
You are
expected, as are all members of the staff, to be as receptive as possible to
requests for
extra work by the editors.
Also, if possible, stop by the newspaper office from time to time to see
if there is anything you
can help with--keyboarding, filing, proofreading, etc.
The
newspaper is a group project. It requires everyone's best effort and ideas. The
paper will be
only as good as the
work you put in.
Academic Integrity
The
(http://www.highlands.edu/academics/academicaffairs/academicintegritypolicy.htm)contains a detailed definition of plagiarism and other
types of academic dishonesty and outlines the procedures and sanctions relating
to violation of the Code.
Disability
Support
Any student who feels he or she
may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should make an
appointment with Student Support Services (706-295-6336) to coordinate reasonable accommodations. The student may also contact the instructor
to discuss specific
needs. This should be done as early in
the semester as possible.
Financial Aid
To students receiving financial aid: Federal
regulations state that if a student does not attend classes
and receives failing
grades, then the grades were not earned and financial aid needs to be reduced
accordingly. Any
student receiving a 0.00 GPA will be required to prove that the 0.00 GPA was
earned by
attending classes or completing requirements for each class. Students who have passed at
least
one class for the semester will not be affected by this regulation. If a student
has properly
withdrawn from all
classes, the student’s financial aid should be adjusted from the time
he/she signed the
withdrawal form.
POINT DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR JOUR-1125
POINT SYSTEM
Each student starts the semester with 100 points. During
the semester the following deductions and additions will be made.
-15 points: For turning a main content assignment (story, photos, or art) in
one day after deadline. For each day late after the first, 10 points will be
deducted up to a possible total of -50. (This means that turning in an
assignment one day late can drop your class grade from a “A” to a
“B”; turning it in two days late drops it to a “C”;
three days late drops it to a “D”; and four days late drops it to
“F.” Requests for deadline extensions must be approved by
the instructor.
-15 points: For turning in a content assignment that shows an obvious lack of
effort or extreme deviation from the assignment made.
-50 points: For failing to help with the
production of the current issue.
-10 points: For each unexcused absence from a class meeting or from a JOUR-1125
ARR meeting. If you cannot attend a meeting, you must immediately notify the
instructor, beforehand if possible and no later than the day after the class
meeting, though only truly unavoidable absences will be excused.
-20 points: For failing to turn in the clipping notebook or to take an active
part in critique sessions.
+5 to 10 points (per issue): For extra work, especially near deadline (for
example, writing last minute stories, doing extra keyboarding, doing extra
layout work; also helping in clean up, helping with filing, bringing in story
ideas, etc.)
If a major unavoidable problem is going to prevent you from doing your
content or production assignment, notify the instructor and the editors immediately.
It may then be possible to make up the missed work with the
instructor's approval.
This policy applies to all JOUR-1125 students on the newspaper staff.*
*For business staff students, the Point System will be adjusted to take
into account the student's specific responsibilities on each issue of the paper
as worked out between student and instructor.
Revised 2009